Travel

This content comes from a Full-Text Transcript of the program.

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:Last night here we told you about the latest airline effort to
squeeze
every dollar out of flying passengers.
Spirit Airlines
has announced it will
charge
to put bags in the overhead bins. You know how people generally feel these days about
airlines
and
air travel
? Can you
guess
what they thought of this idea? Our report
tonight
from
NBC
's
Kevin Tibbles
.

KEVIN TIBBLES reporting:Just when you thought all the pleasure had been nickel-and-dimed out of flying, it's
Ben Stiller
in "
Meet the Parents
" all over again.

TIBBLES:Now they're after your carry-on luggage. It just didn't sit right with those jet-setters on "Today" today.

MATT LAUER reporting:Forty-five
bucks.

MEREDITH VIEIRA reporting:Forty-five
bucks?

LAUER:Yeah.

VIEIRA:That's the spirit.

AL ROKER reporting:There you go.

LAUER:Yup,
discount carrierSpirit Air
will now
charge
$45 to stow your carry-on overhead, 30 if you pay up before showing up at the gate. And sheepish
Spirit
ain't.

TIBBLES:There's two ends of the business, there's
Nordstroms
and there's
Walmart
. They're both successful retailers, but you can't say they're in the same business, in the same way we're not in the same business as a full-service airline.

Mr. BEN BALDANZA (Spirit Airlines President and CEO):To many travelers, it's an affront.

TIBBLES:I paid enough to, you know, get a -- get on the
flight
and go there.

Unidentified Woman #1:I hope it dies an ugly death.

Unidentified Man:Spirit says its cut its fares to the bone, so bring less, pay less. Rival
JetBlue
is already poking fun with its mock sherpa shirt. `Hey, wear your luggage on
board
.' A small part of this does make
sense
. It just might stop people from trying to
squeeze
everything, including the
kitchen sink
, into the overhead compartment.

Unidentified Woman #2:Spirit won't
charge
for diaper bags or strollers. But where will it end?
Europe
's
Ryanair
is planning to
charge
$1.40 to use the toilet. Of course, in
England
that's a pound to use the loo. So to save
money
, you might consider visiting grandma without any luggage at all.